'Honestly, they should be wanting a plea deal': Legal expert breaks down potential future for Return to Nature funeral home owners

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - A legal expert is weighing in a day after the news broke about a plea deal that will be offered to the owners of a funeral home where nearly 200 bodies were found improperly stored.

The deal would involve Jon and Carie Hallford pleading guilty to around 190 counts of Abuse of a Corpse, with Jon serving 20 years in the Department of Corrections, and Carie serving between 15 and 20 years.

The details of the deal were sent to 11 News by victims in the case, who said they were sent the details by the Fourth Judicial District. The Fourth Judicial District told 11 News they would not comment on the deal, even to confirm its existence, due to ethical concerns.

The deal itself has gotten mixed reactions from the victims in the case. Crystina Page, whose son was found in the Return to Nature funeral home in 2023, years after his death in 2019, said she is upset.

"Taking a plea deal is going to remove our ability to hear Jon and Carie tell us what they did to our loved ones and why," Page said.

She told 11 News she didn't care if the Hallfords served a day in prison or a lifetime; what matters to her is that they get answers. And for Mary Simons, whose husband was found in the funeral home, the news is bittersweet.

"I have mixed feelings about the whole thing," Simons said in an email, "a part of me wants it over but I really want them to go away for life."

Former Deputy District Attorney David Webster addressed these concerns, breaking down the details and possible reasoning for the plea deal.

He said deals like this are often made to ensure the prosecutors have less risk for getting a sentence and to keep costs down for taxpayers. Ultimately, with more than 190 victims, Webster said a trial would be expensive and would drag on.

Addressing Page's concerns, Webster said it was unlikely families would get answers in criminal court anyway.

"Honestly, they should be wanting a plea deal," Webster said. "If they're seeking answers, a district attorney can make as a condition of the plea that there be a full allocution of what happened."

This would mean the defendant would have to take responsibility for their actions and provide a factual basis for the crimes, giving an explanation for the victims and the court. As it stands, this is not part of the plea deal sent to the victims.

Webster said it's unlikely the Hallfords would testify themselves in court. They are being tried separately in the local cases, and Webster said they could exercise their Fifth Amendment right to stay silent.

"Once they have been convicted and sentenced, it's gone," Webster explained.

The email sent to families said it's likely the Hallfords will plead not guilty, instead; but should they take the deal, Webster said it could work to the benefit of those seeking answers if a case is taken to civil court after the criminal case is wrapped up. He said without the protections of the Fifth Amendment, the Hallfords would need to provide answers.

"And so the families with a civil attorney would be able to sit these defendants down in a deposition and spend seven hours exploring what happened," Webster said. "The reality is . . . they can probably get a lot more information from a civil case than they can from the criminal case."

There are class action lawsuits against Return to Nature, including one filed shortly after the discovery of the bodies in Penrose .

As far as the federal case against the Hallfords, Webster said it's possible they'd offer a similar deal if this deal is accepted.

"If they've got defendants that are already being sent to 20 years in prison, there's not a whole heck of a lot more justice they can get out of it," he said.

The Hallfords are expected back in court on July 11. If they plead not guilty, or if the plea deal expires in October, the case would likely go to trial.